Wednesday, October 15, 2014

The Remarkable Roads and Bridges of Peru - Part I

Continuing with the
previous post regarding the Nephite roads and Mormon’s statement that the roads
went “from city to city, and from land to
land, and from place to place” (3 Nephi 6:8), we need to consider the
importance of those words. From city to city suggests a rather extensive
system, since at least 40 cities are mentioned in the scriptural record that
would have been within the area the Nephites controlled at the time of this
statement.It might also be
assumed that during the 550 years that the Nephites occupied the Land of Nephi
and the city of Nephi, as well as other lands in the area (Shilom and Shemlon,
etc) that they would have built roads among their occupied area, but there is
nothing in the scriptural record to verify this. It would seem just as likely
that no road existed between the Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla, since
Ammon and his group were lost trying to find the City of Nephi (Mosiah 7:4), and
when the Nephites in that land were rescued, Ammon and his brethren did not
return to Zarahemla on any road (Mosiah 22:12-13). Nor did Limhi’s 43-man
expedition searching for Zarahemla evidently have any road or even path to follow in order
to find it since they became lost (Mosiah 21:25), yet there was a highway that led into the city of
Zarahemla and to the chief market (Helaman 7:10).This highway and road
system of the Nephites, which led from land to land, obviously covered most, if
not all of the area the Nephites occupied. Consequently, today, we should see some
remnant of the extensive Nephite road system in the area of the Land of
Promise, since roads made at that time and two thousands years or more before
Lehi, are still evidenced in the area from which Lehi came (see previous post
for information and photos). So where do we find such a road system today?

Such a road
system is found--the most extensive and formidable roads and highways of the
entire Western Hemisphere--that date to Nephite times in the Andean
area of Peru, Bolivia and Chile, that extends for 20,000 miles, including three
north-south network highways with numerous eat-west branches. So fine were
these roads when the Spanish arrived, that some were given the status of Camino
Real (the King’s Highway). Extending "from Quito, Ecuador in the north, to
Santiago, Chile in the south, and Mendoza, Argentina, in the east. The main
highways were as wide as 66-feet, and were connected by populated areas,
administrative centers, agricultural and mining zones, as well as ceremonial
centers and sacred places." One main highway covered 3,700 miles along the spine of the Andes. A second
main highway, which ran within the mountains at heights as great as 16,000
feet, covered 3,200 miles. The third highway, which ran along the coastal
routes, covered 2,500 miles. These highways were connected like a spiderweb
with numerous east-west roads covering more than 11,000 miles in length, that were from 3 ½ to 13 feet in width,.So it should be considered
that in the time when mountains existed, prior to 34 A.D., for at that time
“many mountains [were] laid low” (Helaman 14:23), showing the existence of a
land of “many mountains,” these roads would have had to go over, around or
through such topography. Typically, ancient roads followed the course of least
resistance, somewhat like a river, however, in the Andean area of Peru, some of
the roads were carved through mountains.

Where necessary, roads were cut through
solid rock, some for great distancesIn addition, other
exception engineering fetes of road construction was accomplished in
negotiating the incisive topography of the landscape:

Roads were laid through dense forests and heavy jungle-like foliage

Roads were built in the high mountains, some along cliffs with steep
drops

Roads
were built in areas of sand and wind with curbings to keep the roads from being
covered over

Roads
were built over hills and up mountains by using steps

Where climbing up cliff sides was necessary,
roads were connected with stairs of a unique designIn all, these roads
of some 20,000 miles or more covered the entire land, allowing both missionary
travel by foot (Alma 4:19, 28-30-31; 5:1), as well as movement of troops from
one location to another (as seen in Helaman 1:25). They also provided the quick
movement of messages (Alma 15:4; 43:24; 47:11-12; 56:1; Mormon 3:4; 6:2).Again, only two
places in the Western Hemisphere have evidence of paved roads dating to
Nephite times, that of Mesoamerica and Andean Peru. However, we need to keep in
mind that the roads in Andean Peru are dated older, are far more extensive,
cover thousands of more miles, and were the ones the Spanish Conquistadors most
admired. (See the next post,
“The Remarkable Roads and Bridges of Peru—Part II,” for more information on
these Nephite roads and how they conquered the mountains “whose height is
great” of which Samuel prophesied)

4 comments:

Del, it seems to me that if the greater portion of these roads are really of Nephite origin, then we ought to be able to identify the most likely candidates for some major BOM cities. Bountiful and Zarahemla come to mind. Those two particular cities would naturally occupy prominent positions on the roadmap. I wonder if modem mapping and geographic principles could be used to determine the most important population centers through an analysis of road density and quality. Such a study combined with the knowledge of major "inca" ruins should yield a short list of candidates for both Zarahemla and Bountiful. What do you think?

I agree with you in principal, though I have long felt it rather useless to try and pinpoint locations from their meager descriptions in the record. As I have written here in the past, I believe the area of Cuzco to be the City of Nephi (ancient roads move outward from here by the way), and that Pachacamac (just south of Lima) to be Zarahemla (to which all roads seem to lead by the way), but I have spent no time at all in looking for Bountiful since there seems to be an insufficient amount of description in the record to pinpoint it. However, perhaps the road system might be a clue that could lead one there. An interesting idea.

For instance, the famous lost city, Ubar, was found by using satellite imagery to find the roads that led to/ran from it.

"Using the (satellite) imagery, the team was able to pick out the ancient trade routes, which were packed down into hard surfaces by the passage of hundreds of thousands of camels. Junctions where the trade routes converged or branched seemed likely locations for the lost city."

You would appreciate the second book in this series, "Who Really Settled Mesoamerica" since it traces Ubar as a stopover for the Jaredite movement to the Great Sea and talks about the satellite finding.